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Across Asia on a Bicycle: The Journey of Two American Students from Constantinople to Peking
In 1890, two American college graduates set out to travel around the world on a then-new invention, the modern bicycle. In 1893 they returned, have covered over 15,000 miles, at that time the "longest continuous land journey ever made around the world." This is their account their trip across Turkey, Persia, Turkestan and northern China. It described their adventures traveling along through regions few outsiders ever visited. Out of print over a century, this book is now back in print with additional notes and maps.
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1894
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 1, 2025
I’ve started the year with a book that reminds me of one I read a couple of years ago. Maybe the year 1890 stimulated adventurers to cross Central Asia. A Ride to India Across Persia and Baluchistan by Harry De Windt was my first reading experience along those lines. He was a professional journalist and traveler. When he says “ride” it means on horseback. The very same year as his trip, two recent college grads do a gap trip (3 year) around the world. This book is the story of what they call the most interesting part of the trip, Asia. The remarkable thing about this journey is that it was accomplished by bicycle!
The people they come across have never seen bicycles and that causes quite a stir. They must race ahead of the amazed crowds, give demonstrations in parade grounds and race local horsemen. Their transport is alternately called devil’s carts, wind horses, foreign horses, flying machines, foot-going carriages and fire wheel carts. This is no deep social anthropology text but just the casual details recorded by a fit young man in his early 20s. Imagine the difficulties of riding through the Gobi desert, money when there are no banks, petty extortion and food and water issues.
They are constantly warned that the people ahead will be hostile but they did pretty well considering they spoke no Asiatic languages except a smattering of Turkish. The Chinese at that time were particularly suspicious of foreigners and the two cyclists had been unable to get prior permission or visas. It seemed doubtful that they would achieve their goal here. Most foreigners were turned away. As it turned out “our bicycles were our best passports.” The desire to see the fire wheel carts overcame all obstacles.
I’d never heard of the two travelers and they appear to disappear from history, but it’s a fun episode in rough travel and certainly in bicycle travel. They carted around a couple cameras and included photos and someone’s art work throughout. Though the photos are primitive they show some unique sights.
The people they come across have never seen bicycles and that causes quite a stir. They must race ahead of the amazed crowds, give demonstrations in parade grounds and race local horsemen. Their transport is alternately called devil’s carts, wind horses, foreign horses, flying machines, foot-going carriages and fire wheel carts. This is no deep social anthropology text but just the casual details recorded by a fit young man in his early 20s. Imagine the difficulties of riding through the Gobi desert, money when there are no banks, petty extortion and food and water issues.
They are constantly warned that the people ahead will be hostile but they did pretty well considering they spoke no Asiatic languages except a smattering of Turkish. The Chinese at that time were particularly suspicious of foreigners and the two cyclists had been unable to get prior permission or visas. It seemed doubtful that they would achieve their goal here. Most foreigners were turned away. As it turned out “our bicycles were our best passports.” The desire to see the fire wheel carts overcame all obstacles.
I’d never heard of the two travelers and they appear to disappear from history, but it’s a fun episode in rough travel and certainly in bicycle travel. They carted around a couple cameras and included photos and someone’s art work throughout. Though the photos are primitive they show some unique sights.
June 23, 2012
This could have been a much better book had the authors made more commentary about the peoples and cultures they passed through. They also seemed to run out of descriptive steam the further east they went. Lots of descriptions as they went through Turkey. Hardly a thing about eastern China. Still, what a fascinating idea to ride a "devil's machine" or "iron horse" across Asia. How shocking the lowly bicycle was to the peoples who had never imagined such a thing! How brave to ride through areas where they were not particularly wanted!
October 8, 2012
As already mentioned amongst these reviews, Across Asia On A Bicycle is available for eReaders to download free from Project Gutenberg Online. The advantage with this is many of the unusual and archaic words can be quickly defined by the inboard wiki.
Having said that, it's is no dried-up and dusty read. The prose has modernity and life. Sure, it's probably lost relevance as a travelogue. For one thing we know China has embraced the bicycle and no longer would refer to one as the devil horse, and regard it with equal measures of suspicion and curiosity. Still, approached as a ripping adventure yarn, it works very well, and there are informative gems to be gleaned. Such as how, before we acquired watches, a strict muslim would know when it's time to begin fasting,
Humour, too, as in describing their encounter with Turkish flatbread,
and almost Swiftian accounts of peculiar customs,
It's not a long book, fewer than 300 pages, excluding the Project Gutenberg guff. Quite concise considering the trip, from Constantinople to the Pacific Ocean, is over three thousand miles or seventy-three days pedalling over rough terrain. There isn't much fat at all, though the edition I chose had accompanying photos and sketches, artist uncredited, but occasionally they seem to tie in with the narrative and, overall, added to the book's charm.
A good read, and it's free.
Having said that, it's is no dried-up and dusty read. The prose has modernity and life. Sure, it's probably lost relevance as a travelogue. For one thing we know China has embraced the bicycle and no longer would refer to one as the devil horse, and regard it with equal measures of suspicion and curiosity. Still, approached as a ripping adventure yarn, it works very well, and there are informative gems to be gleaned. Such as how, before we acquired watches, a strict muslim would know when it's time to begin fasting,
“from the time you can distinguish a white thread from a black one,” no good Mussulman will eat, drink, or smoke.
Humour, too, as in describing their encounter with Turkish flatbread,
Ekmek is a cooked bran-flour paste, which has the thinness, consistency, and almost the taste of blotting-paper. This is the Turkish peasant’s staff of life. He carries it with him everywhere; so did we. As it was made in huge circular sheets, we would often punch a hole in the middle, and slip it up over our arms. This we found the handiest and most serviceable mode of transportation, being handy to eat without removing our hands from the handle-bars, and also answering the purpose of sails in case of a favoring wind.
and almost Swiftian accounts of peculiar customs,
Unlike the Chinese, the Russians consider sugar a necessary concomitant of tea-drinking. There are three methods of sweetening tea: to put the sugar in the glass; to place a lump of sugar in the mouth, and suck the tea through it; to hang a lump in the midst of a tea-drinking circle, to be swung around for each in turn to touch with his tongue, and then to take a swallow of tea.
It's not a long book, fewer than 300 pages, excluding the Project Gutenberg guff. Quite concise considering the trip, from Constantinople to the Pacific Ocean, is over three thousand miles or seventy-three days pedalling over rough terrain. There isn't much fat at all, though the edition I chose had accompanying photos and sketches, artist uncredited, but occasionally they seem to tie in with the narrative and, overall, added to the book's charm.
A good read, and it's free.
May 24, 2019
This book reads like a fake. I am fully convinced that the writers combined an atlas with a stack of National Geographics to come up with a bland and fully expected narrative.
What leads me to suspect that this work is a phooey? First, we learn almost nothing about the bikers themselves. These people bike around the world but they are almost never the personalities involved. Second, all the information provided is as expected. Anyone who's ever traveled to another country knows how different things can be, and these differences are worth noting. These people only ever saw surface traits. The places that they visited never felt vibrant, their descriptions more often lists of information than an exploration of anything noteworthy.
There was almost no lessons learned riding bicycles through these challenging places. If you were an avid biker, this book would provide you with no useful information.
In addition to feeling fake, the book is also racist. The bikers often note how the natives were trying to fool them. For examples, the natives would charge more for prepared food than it cost at market. This is natural enough as that's what businesses do. However, upper class people, such as the Russians, are always talked about with deference. The thing about both these peoples is that they both appear exactly as you would assume, exactly how they're depicted for the popular novels of the day.
If you are interested how Americans see foreigners, this might be interesting, but otherwise, it's a boring, dull, uninteresting, unengaging book documenting nothing in particular.
What leads me to suspect that this work is a phooey? First, we learn almost nothing about the bikers themselves. These people bike around the world but they are almost never the personalities involved. Second, all the information provided is as expected. Anyone who's ever traveled to another country knows how different things can be, and these differences are worth noting. These people only ever saw surface traits. The places that they visited never felt vibrant, their descriptions more often lists of information than an exploration of anything noteworthy.
There was almost no lessons learned riding bicycles through these challenging places. If you were an avid biker, this book would provide you with no useful information.
In addition to feeling fake, the book is also racist. The bikers often note how the natives were trying to fool them. For examples, the natives would charge more for prepared food than it cost at market. This is natural enough as that's what businesses do. However, upper class people, such as the Russians, are always talked about with deference. The thing about both these peoples is that they both appear exactly as you would assume, exactly how they're depicted for the popular novels of the day.
If you are interested how Americans see foreigners, this might be interesting, but otherwise, it's a boring, dull, uninteresting, unengaging book documenting nothing in particular.
June 3, 2017
Two young men set out in 1890 to bike across Asia. They encounter difficult weather and road conditions, curious people, language barriers, unusual customs, setbacks with illness, equipment breakdowns, and acquiring necessary documents. The bicycle was previously unseen in many of the areas and curious people demanded demonstrations. In some places they are required to hire guides that refuse to guide, lodging owners who try to extort tremendous fees for a stay, and hosts who require they share all their food with the host and his guests.
May 4, 2019
A brilliant book. It is a travelogue but they were traveling across the Middle East and through China in the 1890s by bicycle. They did have some amazing experiences and meet some great people. The writing is a little dull, but gets better throughout the book.
The photos are extraordinary, even by modern standards.
The photos are extraordinary, even by modern standards.
January 1, 2014
I recently bought an ereader and this was a free book I read from Project Gutenberg. It was fantastic. A great adventure and trip across 19th century Asia by two eccentrics whose descriptions of the people they meet and the cultures they encounter are both innocent and curious.
June 30, 2022
I came to this work after reading "The Lost Cyclist," which detailed the efforts of William Lewis Sachtleben's efforts to discover what happened to fellow round-the-world-by-bicycle rider Frank Lenz. Sachtleben and his college classmate Thomas Allen completed a three-year round-the-world-by-bicycle tour, 1890-1893.
This work was published originally a few years after Sachtleben and Allen returned to the US. It is, as the auther states, "made up of a series of sketches" taken from their journey across Asia from Constantinople (renamed Istanbul in the 1920s) to the Pacific coast of China. It also documents their successful ascent of Mount Ararat, a side trip for them.
My 3-star rating is largely due to the "series of sketches" format, which I found choppy, and the bloodless tone of the writing. There are a number of events that the author puts forth in such a dry and disinterested way as to mask their importance. Had a different tone been taken this would have been a "ripping yarn." Unfortunately, it wasn't and it isn't.
There are more engaging works in the genre, to be sure. Nonetheless, Allen and Sachtleben's travels were an important step in the evolution of bicycling and bicycle touring. If you have an interest in cycle tourning history you will want to read this work (but you needn't run out and find a copy, it will hold for winter doldrums).
This work was published originally a few years after Sachtleben and Allen returned to the US. It is, as the auther states, "made up of a series of sketches" taken from their journey across Asia from Constantinople (renamed Istanbul in the 1920s) to the Pacific coast of China. It also documents their successful ascent of Mount Ararat, a side trip for them.
My 3-star rating is largely due to the "series of sketches" format, which I found choppy, and the bloodless tone of the writing. There are a number of events that the author puts forth in such a dry and disinterested way as to mask their importance. Had a different tone been taken this would have been a "ripping yarn." Unfortunately, it wasn't and it isn't.
There are more engaging works in the genre, to be sure. Nonetheless, Allen and Sachtleben's travels were an important step in the evolution of bicycling and bicycle touring. If you have an interest in cycle tourning history you will want to read this work (but you needn't run out and find a copy, it will hold for winter doldrums).
February 11, 2023
Across Asia on a Bicycle is a travelogue of an epic journey at a time (1890) when bicycles were largely unknown in an Asia nearly unchanged by contact with the outside world. The book is as interesting for its description of the peoples encountered as it is for the places visited. It is easy reading and entertaining, although not without a few disappointments. The tale of the travels through Turkey and Iran is rich and detailed, but the trip through the Gobi Desert in China is simply a point-to-point chronicle of towns and encounters, without much description of the spectacular scenery of the Gobi. One high point (no pun intended) in the book is the side trip devoted to climbing of Mount Ararat, a place only a few had seen and which locals refused to believe was even possible. Although the idiom of the book is that of the 1890s, it is still vital and fascinating in its portrayal of peoples the bicyclists met and lodged with. On the whole, this is a worthwhile and fun read.
April 1, 2022
Such an amazing adventure they had...biking over such a vast changing landscape and culture. Living and observing incredibly isolated communities where it was rare to find someone whom had heard of a place such as India, or on on rarest occasion; Europe.
Definitely written differently than expected. The focus was more on quirks in the culture, food, and religion the duo had observed, with the occasional short story of a memorable event that had occurred. Overall, absolutely enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone.
Definitely written differently than expected. The focus was more on quirks in the culture, food, and religion the duo had observed, with the occasional short story of a memorable event that had occurred. Overall, absolutely enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone.
May 8, 2023
A marvelous little book rounded wholeheartedly up to 5 stars for the sheer bravado of the enterprise (two 22-year olds from St Louis cycling halfway across the world in a time of great tumult) and the wit and intelligence with which it was written. Deserves to be a classic of late-19th century travel literature.
December 6, 2017
Dated history and a little slow in places, but still a good window in the conditions of how people lived in the 1890s asia vs how we live in the USA. Broadens ones perspective.
August 3, 2011
In the 1890s, Thomas Gaskell Allen and William Lewis Sachtleben, upon their graduation from Wash U. in St. Louis, biked around the world. They wrote this fascinating book about the 1-year-long Asian leg (Istanbul-Peking) of their journey. Everywhere they went both bicycles and Americans were totally unknown. This proves that young men back then are crazy as those today. Circumnavigation was not enough, so they also ascended Mt. Ararat. This book abounds in interesting details. They wintered in Tashkent, which had no supplies to repair their bikes, so Sachtleben went back to London to get them. It took him 16 days.
July 27, 2011
Interesting to see words I recognize from my two years in Azerbaijan.
Want to read
June 11, 2012Discovered this when the authors walked through a flashback in Vladimir Nabokov's THE GIFT. The book is in the public domain and available as a free ebook in almost every format.
April 21, 2013
Not the greatest travel writing, but an epic journey and some interesting details of life in late 19th century Turkey and China
March 13, 2017
A task that looked impossible. And experiences from it. With some interesting details that tell you what a part of the world used to be like a century ago.
June 8, 2014
This describes quite an accomplishment and an amazing adventure but somehow I did not find it very interesting and never got a good feel for the 2 men.
August 2, 2016
Intriguing, educational
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews